ST. PETERSBURG - Alexander Lang "Alec" Peterson, a former prominent member of the downtown business community, has died at 91.
Mr. Peterson, who owned Credit Bureau of St. Petersburg and was an officer of the Downtown Merchants Association from the 1940s through the 1960s, died Monday (March 8, 2004) at the home of a daughter in Orlando.
A native of Nassau County, N.Y., Mr. Peterson came here as a child. He attended Aiken Open Air School and was a member of the first four-year graduating class of the new St. Petersburg High School in 1929.
His career plans altered by the Great Depression, he attended St. Petersburg Junior College and completed his studies at the University of North Carolina School of Business, Chapel Hill, in the 1950s.
A founding member of the Committee of 100, he also was a 50-year member of Downtown Rotary and the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and served on the boards of both organizations. An avid sailor, he was a member of the winning crew in the 1952 race to Havana.
Mr. Peterson was a member of St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral and the Museum of Fine Arts.
Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Marjorie Duke Applebee Peterson; three sons, Eric Lang Peterson and Jon Duke Peterson, both of St. Petersburg, and William E. Peterson, Orlando; a daughter, Nancy Peterson, Orlando; and three grandchildren.
The family suggests memorial contributions to a favorite charity.
Carey Hand Colonial Funeral Home, Orlando, is in charge.
- Information from Times files was used in this obituary.
